Allenwood G.F.C.

Infobox GAA club
club gaa = Allenwood
crest = AllenwoodGFCcrest.png|100px irish = Fiodh Alúine
county = Kildare
nickname = The Blues
colours = Sky Blue & Navy Blue
grounds = Sean Tierney Park
founded = 1956
honours =
pattern_la = | pattern_b=|pattern_ra=
leftarm= 000080|body=87ceeb |rightarm= 000080|shorts= 000080|socks= 000080
|

Allenwood G.F.C. is a Gaelic football club based in Allenwood, County Kildare, Republic of Ireland. Because it is located in County Kildare, the club competes in the County Kildare GAA board league and cup system. Allenwood was the winner of the Kildare Senior Football Championship in 2004 and Club of the Year in 1974. It is the home club of serial Kildare Player of the Year Johnny Doyle.

GAA in Allen

Allen Fionn McCumhals affiliated in 1889 and objected to the formation of a club in Robertstown. RIC records show Lullymore Captain Dooleys had 50 members in 1890, with officers listed as James Cribben, John Deegan, Joseph Loughlin and Pat Crop.

Allenwood club

Allenwood GFC was founded in 1956 by Sean Tierney and Frank Harte, a former chairman of the Sligo county board and a local camp supervisor with Bord na Móna. Allenwood players formerly played with Ballyteague, Robertstown and the now dormant Allen club. The club played at McNally's field, Walshe's field, and Lullymore before moving to Heather Park (now Sean Tierney Park). Allenwood installed the first set of floodlights in Kildare in 1999. The clubhouse was initially situated in Allenwood South, close to the banks of the Grand Canal, before moving to its current location in 1970.

Gaelic football

The club came to prominence in 1960 when Team Captain Joe McAnally was on the Kildare team. In 1961 the club ended a run of defeats to Staffan and then beat Rheban and Carbury reserves to win the junior championship. The following year, Allenwood won the intermediate championship, beating Rathcoffey, Maynooth and devastating Celbridge in the final, with Brian Judge playing at full-forward.
Kilcock, Moorefield and Carbury ousted Allenwood from the senior championships of the sixties but Allenwood was showing great consistency in the Leinster Leader Cup. They beat Raheens in the 1964 final, Clane in the 1966 final and Carbury in the 1970 final.

Their 11-4 to 1-1 victory over defending champions Clane was the shock of the 1968 championship. The club then progressed to the county semi-final, losing to Clane in 1969. The club lost to Carbury in 1970, and eventually broke through at the third attempt when they beat Raheens 8-2 to 8-0 in 1971. Despite an eight point victory over Carbury in a Leader Cup final the previous April, Allenwood beaten soundly in the 1971 county final.

As the tower of the peat station which dominated the landscape was destroyed in June 1997, Allenwood re-emerged once more but lost a one-sided county final to Sarsfields in 1999.Ken Doyle and John Doyle inspired Allenwood to their first county title in 2004, defeating St. Laurence's by 11-0 to 7-0 with a strong second half performance. John Doyle was Kildare footballer of the year in 2004 and 2005. They lost by one point to Skryne in the quarter final of the Leinster Senior Club Football Championship.

Camogie

Allenwood camogie club was organized by Paud and Miriam Malone from 1980-94. The club was defeated in the 1984 and 1987 junior finals, and the 1990 league and championship finals.

Trivia

John Wiltshire got married on the day of the 2004 county semi-final, proceeding to the wedding directly from the match.

Honours

*Kildare Senior Football Championship Winners 2004
**Finalists 1971, 1999, 2007
*Senior League Champions 1964, 1993, 2002, 2004
*Intermediate F champions 1962, 1990.
*Junior F Champions 1961.
*The Niall Smullen cup 1963

Bibliography

* Kildare GAA: A Centenary History, by Eoghan Corry, CLG Chill Dara, 1984, ISBN 0-9509370-0-2 hb ISBN 0-9509370-1-0 pb
* Kildare GAA yearbook, 1972, 1974, 1978, 1979, 1980 and 2000- in sequence especially the Millennium yearbook of 2000
* Soaring Sliothars: Centenary of Kildare Camogie 1904-2004 by Joan O'Flynn Kildare County Camogie Board.

External links

* [http://www.allenwoodgfc.com/ Allenwood GFC Club Website]
* [http://kildare.gaa.ie/ Kildare GAA site]
* [http://www.clubgaa.ie/kildare/ Kildare GAA club sites]
* [http://www.hoganstand.com/Kildare/ Kildare on Hoganstand.com]